My Trust in Your Hands
by LovingNinja
Summary: After the truth of her marriage with Kazuma is revealed to be legally non-existent, Shouma confronts Fumino to accompany him back overseas. Fumino agrees, needing space and time to mature and think over her life the past years. Meg and Shouma do their best to help her settle in with school, but will Shouma ever find his feelings for Fumino at an end? Or, will they be returned?


**This is my second Faster Than a Kiss fiction, but my first ShoumaXFumino fiction. I usually leave canon as it is, because I'm a big canon person/nerd. However, I do like the idea of possibly switching it up with Fumino leaving with Shouma after graduation. I also have to say that I personally prefer Shouma over Kazuma. Anyhow, this is will be one of the few times I'll ever touch canon and write against it, though this will be out of fun rather than others where I wrote in thought of poor judgement towards the creators.**

**I do not own Faster Than a Kiss or the characters. I only own this fiction based on the story and will do my best to keep any and all characters in-character.**

* * *

When her eyes opened, they felt sore and heavy. Her body felt worn down and her stomach more upset than any other time she could remember. Her head was pounding and the light that was shining through the window burned her already hazy vision. The bed was large and barren save for her stuck in the middle, several plush pillows surrounding her and the covers a large pool that made her feel even more alone than she thought was possible.

The room itself was just as large as the empty feeling still growing inside of her, but no matter how many tears she spilled throughout these last months, she didn't see any bit of her situation getting any better. Taking his offer was her last resort to a new start. Or, at least, she hoped.

It took her almost an hour before she shuffled out of bed, her hair in disarray and night clothes crinkled to almost every inch. When she opened the door, she peeked out shyly, only to jump when a maid walked by.

"Oh, Miss Kaji, good morning," the young woman, mid-twenties, with curled brown hair and blue eyes, smiled at Fumino brightly, a basket filled with cloth in her arms. "Master Ojiro and Miss Denton are downstairs just settling into breakfast."

"Ah, um," the young Japanese settled her eyes on the floor as a hand went up to pat down her hair, but before she could say anything else, the maid spoke once more.

"Neither have changed from their sleeping attire just yet. You are safe to join them, Miss Kaji."

"Oh, well, thank you," Fumino's cheeks were dusted pink. "Miss T-Thomas, was it?"

The young maid laughed shaking her head, "Please, just call me Sandra, Miss Kaji."

Nodding, Fumino slipped out from behind the door, closing it behind her and waved the servant good morning before she went on her way with her business of cleaning. Fumino hesitantly made her way down the curved staircase, eyes open wide to take in all that she could of the large household. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she took a moment to remember where exactly the dining area was, before she remembered to hurry to her right, down the hall and take a left. When she came across the opened large doors, she peeked in to see Shouma and Meg sitting across from each other, both silently discussing something that didn't quite make it to her ears as they sipped on what appeared to be some sort of morning broth.

"A-Ah, good morning," she piped up, earning the attention of her companions, both bearing smiles at her presence.

"Fumino!" Meg, the heiress to this large mansion and the fortune it withheld, rose from her seat and approached her friend, grasping onto her hands with the brightest grin. "We were wondering if you were ever going to wake up."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Japanese youth tried to laugh. "You'd think I would have gotten used to everything by now."

"Well, it's only been a few weeks since we've arrived," Shouma responded, turning in his chair to see the young women better. "Even for me, I had trouble my first time coming here."

At that, Meg laughed, dragging Fumino over towards the table, "Shouma was a complete mess!"

"Thanks, Meg," the young man sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to face the table. Fumino sat beside her female friend, several seats away from Shouma, but the young man did not mention a word of it as he continued. "Fumino, would you like to make a request for breakfast?"

"I'm fine with just…plain old pancakes," she replied. "If that's not a problem."

"Fumino," Meg placed a hand on her shoulder, "you should get used to this place, all right? Feel free to ask for whatever you want. You're the guest."

"Not for long, of course," Shouma hummed with a smirk. "She'll be attending classes shortly."

"Right! Fumino, are you excited?!"

Eyes shifting between the two, Fumino cracked a laugh before shaking her head ever the slightest, "I'm more nervous than I excited, I think. I mean, my English still isn't the best."

"_That's why we need to focus on practicing it,"_ Shouma stated simply, earning a wide-eyed look from the girl he admired as she had to process the words he spoke.

"_Yes, I know,"_ her words came out slowly but clear and so the Ojiro heir applauded her with the most subtle hint of praise he could muster.

Meg gave a tough pat to the young woman's back, "You'll be fine, Fumino! _English isn't too hard! Certainly not as much as Japanese."_

Shouma rolled his eyes, snorting, "English is difficult even for Americans."

"_Only English literature."_

"Oh, the maid," Fumino cut in. "Sandra? She speaks Japanese well."

"She's multi-lingual. Papa hired her for being able to speak Japanese, Russian, German, Spanish, and French."

"So many languages?!"

Meg nodded, "She told Papa she has a passion for languages. She may be our maid, but she's still in college and Papa is fascinated by her hard work, so he's happy to help support her."

"Oh, wow, your father is very generous, isn't he?"

"Sometimes he's too generous," Shouma mumbled.

"And, sometimes he's a little too strict," Meg shot a look at him. Both Fumino and Shouma were silent by the expression presented by the Denton heiress until Shouma looked once more to Fumino.

"Have you gotten a response from the letter you sent to Teppei?" he inquired.

Fumino shook her head, "Not just yet. I'm sure Tomo-kun is helping him write it out."

"I'm sure he's getting used to living with your uncle, Fumino," Meg tried to smile as she noticed the sullen look on her friend's face. "Even if he misses you, he'll be all right in the end. And, when you see him on holidays it'll make everything twice as good!" Her eyes shifted to Shouma, "I'm sure you won't be the only one happy to their brother when the holidays come around."

Shouma flushed red with both embarrassment and annoyance as he paid special attention to Fumino at the mention of his brother. He knew it was selfish of him to ask her to come with him to America for school after graduation, but in the end she said yes. Her heart was broken too many times because of the stunts his brother pulled, holding things secret from her and he was even willing to let her go which more than likely hurt her the most out of everything. He ended up taking her away from her brother, though he did offer to support him in one of the elementary schools in America, but Fumino wouldn't have it. Her uncle even agreed that even though the two were close, as siblings they needed to separate or else their relationship could grow to an unhealthy level of dependency, and Teppei needed to grow up learning to be independent as Fumino needed to learn to be a bit selfish like an average youth.

However, she showed no physical signs of recollection of Kazuma, and Shouma withheld a sigh of relief as his heart skipped a bit. He cared for her, that much was certain, and even if she didn't return his feelings, he was happy to see her healing from his brother's mistake; if she was happy, he certainly was as well.

"Anyway," Shouma choked out, coughing into his hand as though he was beginning to grow serious, "Fumino, all of your classes have been selected and finalized, right?"

At the mention of classes, Fumino was quick to jump in her seat, her words coming out fast and flustered, "W-Well, you _and _M-Meg-chan helped me f-figure out the forms."

"But?"

"What do you mean 'but'?!"

"_The way you're talking tells me something may be wrong,"_ Shouma accused.

"_W-Well…! _I haven't heard…h-heard back from a few classes yet."

Again that morning, Shouma shook his head, "All right, you and me are going to look into that later, got it? You're _not_ going to end up without the credits you need!"

Fumino shifted in her seat, not sure entirely what to say before she mumbled, _"Th-Thank you, Shouma."_

The young man turned red once more, standing up from his seat and excusing himself, leaving Fumino bewildered and Meg sighing.

* * *

"_Are you sure this is what you want, Fumino?"_

_It was late, and the young woman was packing. In a few days she'd be overseas in America with Shouma and Meg. She was currently staying with her uncle, Tomoyuki, having left Kazuma's for good ever since she was told the truth of their "marriage" and Shouma asked her to come with him. It wasn't the fact that their marriage wasn't "real", it was the fact that all this time he never told her about it. Teppei was fast asleep, still recovering from the separation that he felt towards "Ma-kun"._

"_Tomo-kun," she didn't look up as she placed her clothes in a zip-up bag, "I'm not sure about anything anymore. Not really. However, I remember that…Sensei…even said that my English is improving, and Shouma-kun says I had what it takes to get into a decent university in America, and I did. Even if I was happy with Sensei, I feel I need a new break. I need to think about all this time I've spent since Teppei and I were left alone. I…need to grow up and become an adult."_

_Smiling softly, Tomoyuki reached out, ruffling his niece's hair. "Don't push yourself, all right? Nii-san wouldn't like to know that. Take care of yourself and don't be afraid to come back if you feel scared or overwhelmed."_

"_Tomo-kun," Fumino looked up at him and held her tightly._

"_I love you, kid."_

"_I love you, too."_

"_Take care over there, and I'll take care of Teppei."_

"_I trust you. Take care as well."_

_But, no matter the words of comfort, thinking of her brother and thinking of America, and everything else that has ever happened to her, Fumino felt an unsettling sensation in the pit of her stomach._

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**To Be Continued...!  
**

**Thank you so much for reading! Please review!**

**~LovingNinja~**


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